I will say that compared with churches in Armenia and the Armenian ones in Georgia that I have seen, St. Vartan's struck me as pretty, um, *latinized* in the interior, while the exterior is of course rather faithful to the Armenian designs I have seen in the "old country".

Why is the interior so latinized? What do most Armenian churches look like on the inside?

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"I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused. " - Saint

Hm....maybe its just me then....The altar seemed very latinized. Perhaps, this is Armenian tradition, but the ....oh I don't know what you call it...sorry I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to things like this, but not the altar itself, but the thing above and around the altar...lol...you know the 4 pillars...with the point roof....is very comon in Roman Catholic Cathedrals. I must have seen dozens of Cathedrals with an altar just like that when I visited Italy. Also the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC has a high altar like that (much larger though), as does Catholic Cathedral in St. Louis, if I'm not mistaken.

« Last Edit: April 25, 2004, 09:07:41 PM by Ben »

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"I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused. " - Saint

"I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused. " - Saint

If the Colorado cultists were as deliriously happy living only among their fellow true believers as they claim, they wouldn't be obsessing about and impersonating somebody outside their fold like me. The attention is really a back-handed compliment, especially considering I rarely post here anymore and don't post at all on their board.

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Why is the interior so latinized? What do most Armenian churches look like on the inside?

Because 1) the Armenian Rite is different to the Byzantine, 2) the Armenian Rite hasn't got a tradition of iconography though they accept images, 3) contact with Roman Catholics in Jerusalem during the Crusades (the Armenian cathedral there was built as a Crusader church) and afterwards led to a lot of borrowing/crossover, such as Latin mitres for bishops.

Having a canopy/baldachino over the altar apparently is very old and is seen in more than one rite.

In my experience Armenian churches look much like traditional Roman Catholic ones only without statuary or an altar rail and with a curtain that closes around the altar. Basically it looks like an Eastern Orthodox service taking place in a Roman Catholic church.

"but the thing above and around the altar...lol...you know the 4 pillars...with the point roof...."

The Kiborion/Baldacchino is quite ancient and is common to Latin, Byzantine, and Armenian Churches. It was in use in Byzantine Churches before the iconostasis became popular and many churches actually have both.

The differences I have seen is that in the Armenian churches in Armenia and Georgia (1) there is always a substantial altar curtain and (2) the interior (pews, wall coverings, etc.) is pretty different, and (3) the use of candles and candle stations is very distinctive. The mitres and garb and such are things that came in during the Crusades, but what I was comparing was what I have seen in Armenia, on the one hand, with what I have seen at St. Vartan's on the other, not the pictures here.

I could be wrong, but I thought that the Armenian altar derived from the Syriac tradition. It kinda looks like the altars I have seen in in Syriac and Indian Orthodox Churches.

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Worship is theology, so a church which brings Evangelical and Charismatic "praise & worship" into its corporate life is no longer Orthodox. It is, by definition, heterodox. Those "Orthodox" leaders who make theological arguments for the incorporation of heteropraxis into the life of the Church are heretics.

The only Armenian church that I've ever visited reminded me a lot of our Indian churches, Antonious. And I guess that's why I was curious when some called it "latinised". If the only reason for that was the presence of a canopy over the altar, that's not really the best reason.

With regard to Brendan's points, I personally didn't think the pictures were adequate enough to see how the cathedral differed from other Armenian churches. However, I recognise in his points things I've seen personally in the local Armenian parish.